ng around."

The commander sat down. "What young man?" he asked calculatingly.

"Don't know his name," said Amantha. "He ran out of the ship before we
could ask him."

"So _you're_ the poisoner," said the commander coldly. "If he dies,
neither your age nor your sex will make any difference."

"Just canalberries," Amantha assured him. "Reckon you wouldn't know
about them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Canalberries. Used to be lots of them. Males, men and animals, just
can't help eating them. Don't bother women or any other kind of females.
Biologists used to tell us it was a seed-scattering device. Guess so.
Won't hurt him none. Try bicarb and vinegar. It'll fix him up."

"For your sake, I hope it will!" said the commander. "He's in a bad
way." He stabbed a pencil at her and his voice became stern. "If you
follow directions, I'm sure I can get you off lightly."

"Think we will?" said Amantha.

The commander hurried on. "It's hard to find a ship in space. Stay where
you are or, if you can, turn around and come back--_slowly_. We'll send
a ship up and transfer a competent pilot to bring you down. Do you
hear?"

"Real plain. You got good radios on these ships."

He smothered a growl. "Your lives are in danger. We're not going to
chase out and rescue you unless you cooperate." It was an
understatement. If they observed radio silence, search ships would never
find them. They might not think of it, but he wouldn't bet. They were
smart enough to steal the ship.

There was another thing. From what he'd learned from records, they were
close to the exposure limit. Any moment now, they might go berserk,
turning their course fatally toward the Sun. He had to be careful what
he said.

"We'll get you out of this, but only if you help. I refuse to sacrifice
men and waste their flight time, which is more precious than any ship,
merely to save two senile incompetents. Is this clear?"

"I suppose," said Amantha. "We've got to go home."

The commander rubbed his hands. They weren't as stubborn as he feared.
He'd rescue them.

"Good. I'll have men aloft in a few minutes."

"Guess it was you who didn't hear," she said. "Our home is on Earth."

II

"There's no one here," said the robot blocking the door.

"We'll wait." Amantha tried to go inside. The robot wouldn't move.

It was dark and windy and, from the steps, they could see lights of
houses glowing around them. Not many--it was near the edge of the